Beth Maiman | NCAA.com | April 8, 2019

The Bears earned the program's third national title after defeating the reigning champion Notre Dame, 82-81 on Sunday night.

Baylor's starting forward Lauren Cox sustained an injury in the third quarter, leading freshman Nalyssa Smith to come in and step up big for Baylor. She went 7-for-9, scoring 14 points and picking up six rebounds. Grad transfer Chloe Jackson had 26 points and five assists. Senior Kalani Brown had 20 points and 13 rebounds.

"My teammates and my coaches, they just believe in me so much. And for Lauren Cox, she got us here and we had to finish the job for her," Jackson said on the court after the game.

Notre Dame showed up in the fourth quarter to give the Bears a scare. With seconds left in the game, Moon Ursin fouled Arike Ogunbowale. Ogunbowale, a senior for Notre Dame and the hero of last season, missed the first and made the second.

How are NCAA women's basketball tournament teams selected?

There are 64 teams in the single-elimination tournament. Of those, 32 qualify automatically as conference champions by winning conference tournaments. The rest will be selected as at-large teams by the Division I Women's Basketball Championship Sport Committee.

Earlier this season, the committee twice announced its top-16 teams: Feb. 11 and March 4. However, these reveals have no bearing on the final 64-team field. In the March 4 reveal, Baylor, Louisville, Notre Dame and UConn were No. 1 seeds.

When the bracket was revealed, Baylor, Louisville, Notre Dame and Mississippi State received No. 1 seeds. UConn dropped to a No. 2 seed.

NCAA women's basketball tournament: Automatic qualifiers

America East: Maine (25-7); No. 14 seed

American Athletic Conference: UConn (31-2); No. 2 seed

Atlantic 10: Fordham (25-8); No. 14 seed

ACC: Notre Dame (30-3); No. 1 seed

Atlantic Sun: Florida Gulf Coast (28-4); No. 13 seed

Big 12: Baylor (31-1); No. 1 seed

Big East: DePaul (26-7); No. 6 seed

Big Sky: Portland State (25-7); No. 15 seed

Big South: Radford (26-6); No. 14 seed

Big Ten: Iowa (26-6); No. 2 seed

Big West: UC Davis (24-6); No. 15 seed

CAA: Towson (20-12); No. 15 seed

Conference USA: Rice (28-3); No. 12 seed

Horizon League: Wright State (27-6); No. 13 seed

Ivy League: Princeton (22-9); No. 11 seed

MAAAC: Quinnipiac (26-6); No. 11 seed

MAC: Buffalo (23-9); No. 10 seed

MEAC: Bethune-Cookman (21-10); No. 16 seed

Missouri Valley Conference: Missouri State (22-9); No. 11 seed

Mountain West Conference: Boise State (28-4); No. 13 seed

Northeast Conference: Robert Morris (22-10); No. 16 seed

Ohio Valley Conference: Belmont (26-6); No. 13 seed

Pac-12: Stanford (28-4); No. 2 seed

Patriot League: Bucknell (28-5); No. 12 seed

SEC: Mississippi State (30-2); No. 1 seed

Southern Conference: Mercer (25-7); No. 15 seed

Southland Conference: Abilene Christian (23-9); No. 16 seed

SWAC: Southern (20-12); No. 16 seed

Summit League: South Dakota State (26-6); No. 6 seed

Sun Belt Conference: Little Rock (21-10); No. 12 seed

WCC: BYU (25-6); No. 7 seed

WAC: New Mexico State (25-6); No. 14 seed

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Oklahoma State won the national title on its home course last season, defeating Alabama in the finals at Karsten Creek. Led by U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland and the Cowboys have won six tournaments this season, taking the Big 12 title in their previous start.